Diandra Reviews It All

I love this shot of Johnny Flynn. For some reason, to me, it encapsulates the essence of his music and style. There he was on stage, alone but not lonely, observant but not obnoxious, and caring but not worried. Like the many thoughtful, folk troubadours before him, from Buddy Holly to Bob Dylan, Flynn played music that show the daily chaos, ridiculousness, magic, and awe that one, singular life con contain.
Johnny Flynn – Wandering Aengus

Playing off of his newest album, Sillion, Johnny Flynn’s show was completely sold out. Now, this was not my first time at a sold-out show, but it was my first time feeling like “Yup, this is what sold out looks like!”. The crowd was packed in kinship and silence, ready to watch Johnny Flynn as if he was the first and last man on earth to play a song. I was amazed of investment from the crowd, and even the lack of phones instagramming something like #johnnyflynnislife. Honestly, a butterfly would have been shushed for flapping too hard had it entered the room, and I loved the respectful, even sweet dynamic. As Flynn played in a darkened room in Le Poisson Rouge, you almost felt as if you and him were the only ones in the concert, of which he told you tales titles “Raising The Dead”, “Wandering Aengus”, and “In The Deepest”. I say tales because Flynn’s lyrics carry a “Day In The Life” vibe, similar to Conor Oberst or William Joseph Cook, where you feel as if you have been plopped into the perspective of someone beyond yourself. It could be for this reason William Joseph Cookwhy his music emanates notes of loneliness, compassion, resistance, and even personal dichotomies. From “In My Pocket” to”The Night My Piano Upped and Died” and even “Heart Sunk Hank”, songs showed how human beings are always leaving themselves torn amongst the nuances of ideologies, feelings, and surrounding images. Flynn became the human incarnation of everytime you felt like everyone was just “looking” at each other but no one was observing or paying attention to the other. This could be why the crowd razor -focused on the Uk native that was quite funny, in between, such intellectual tracks.
Johnny Flynn – Raising the Dead

In music, Flynn’s voice writhes in pain as if he gurgles it like Listerine and then spits it out, only to interject songs with random quips about the “Science Protest”, as he called it, in NYC or how a cop stopped him in a park for not being horizontal. The crowd died off laughter, and similar to Alex Lahey and Youngr, Flyn Click Here. n felt like a two for one deal: a concert with a side of comedy. Yet, what impressed me most was how well he captured the country-rock annotations and belted notes with a folk-blues style of American music. When he sings and plays, you would swear he was born in Nashville or, at least ,the Midwest. It was in this moment I realized the power of American music to captivate the world and make NYC such an exciting place to play: something even Flynn marveled. For More Information On Johnny Flynn Click Here.